Arkansas again cuts off Medicaid funds to Planned Parenthood

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - Arkansas has again cut off Medicaid funding to Planned Parenthood after a federal appeals court upheld the state's decision to defund the organization over videos secretly taken by an anti-abortion group.

A Department of Human Services spokeswoman said Monday the state terminated the group's status as a Medicaid provider last week after the ruling siding with the state formally took effect. The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals earlier this month said it wouldn't reconsider a three-judge panel's decision upholding the defunding.

Gov. Asa Hutchinson terminated Arkansas' Medicaid contract with Planned Parenthood in 2015. The appeals panel vacated a federal judge's preliminary injunction preventing the state from suspending Medicaid payments to the organization. Planned Parenthood has not said whether it plans to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.